Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Starting From Scratch: A small urban agricultural project in El Alto

I volunteered for International Citizen Service (ICS), a scheme based
in the UK funded by the British government, and found myself running an
entrepreneurship programme for their partner Aldeas Infantiles SOS in
Bolivia with three other young people. Arriving in La Paz without a word
of Spanish was perhaps foolish as, even from a holidaying perspective
it would have been a struggle but, coming over as a development worker
still causes me to shudder in disbelief and shame. In fact, the
embarrassment consisted of multiple feelings of inadequacy, such as
lacking any skills specifically related to our project, concluded by an
overriding suspicion that my presence could be entirely useless. Where
would I go from here? I knew enough about the politics of international
aid to know what I had to offer was not ideal and for pessimism to sink
in. Had I been so typically arrogant to assume my Western grounding
would instantly translate into a beacon of empowerment for La Paz’s
poverty-stricken population? Well, after two months I am not so harsh on
myself or those that came with me in the same capacity, with a mind for
action and the intention to do something, and to do it right.

My first professional research into urban agriculture began on
Wikipedia. Not something you’d want to share with a hopeful community of
Bolivians standing by. The concept however was simple and not
unfamiliar. Cultivating vegetables and rearing livestock can have a
wondrous impact on almost any community. It´s not just cities in
developing countries where access to fresh and safe food can be
extremely challenging, but also in cities that are seeking business
opportunities and a boost to community spirit, that can use innovative
and efficient growing techniques to create sustainable urban and
peri-urban agriculture. The Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC)
defines their goal as ´All persons in a community having access to
culturally acceptable, nutritionally adequate food through local,
non-emergency sources at all times´. With 50% of the world´s population
dwelling in cities and 250 million of them continually hungry, it’s
clear that urban agriculture isn’t just a nice idea but a completely
necessary one in working toward food security.

Wilfredo
showing Karen Quispe [Cooperante for Entrepreneurship], Bartosz
Pęziński and James Wainman the produce growing in an example greenhouse
in El Alto

In India and China, urban gardening has
sprung up without the encouragement of NGOs out of sheer desperation.
Impressively, more than 70% of Beijing’s non-staple food such as
vegetables and milk were produced within the city itself in the 60s and
70s; Cairo’s small-scale rooftop gardening project became officially
adopted by FAO in 2001; and Havana in Cuba, receives 90% of its fresh
produce from local urban agriculture alone. In the States, gardening
collectives are highly successful and very modish in Los Angeles,
Seattle and even New York. In all, despite our lack of experience, we
had a myriad of inspirations. It was a matter of selecting those which
shared certain similarities to our situation in La Paz. The high
altitude and the harsh arid conditions of the Altiplano would be our
main challenge in trying to cultivate robust vegetables to feed
struggling families of the vast city of El Alto.

So why focus on urban agriculture in La Paz? It was a previous group
of volunteers that had put some time into deciding the path for our
small entrepreneurship programme and, after a few days of exploring the
local cuisine, we began to see the topic’s importance. For 10
Bolivianos, I had a quarter of a roast chicken with a piled plate of
rice, pasta, chips and plantain, something most high-street menus depend
on. Tasty as it was, the sides were carbs, carbs and more carbs! So
whilst the markets are brimming full of juicy organic-looking vegetables
and fruit, Bolivia does not appear to be a pioneer of balanced dishes
or healthy eating. About 27 per cent of Bolivian children under the age
of five suffer from chronic malnutrition, with a prevalence of stunted
growth, iodine deficiency, anaemia and vitamin A deficiency throughout
their lives. It is not just a battle against a plant-unfriendly climate
but also to change cultural habits.

Urban agriculture could provide local people not only with an
improved diet but also open up the opportunity for selling surplus in a
country overflowing with markets and independent street stalls. There
are other potential benefits, such as women empowerment, which have the
potential to be integrated into the project, giving Bolivian women a
more prominent role in contributing to the household income and deciding
on how to spend it.

To my own surprise, a strong development project plan materialised
quickly, complete with key phases, comprehensive Excel tables and
serious proposals to bring to the chosen community, Portada Triangular
in El Alto, of about 200 families and confirm our intentions. From a
human rights-based approach to development, there were certain
principles we were keen to express from the start. Firstly the project
had to be appropriate. We carried out questionnaires door-to-door which
confirmed that people’s diets were heavily based on starchy
carbohydrates and that there was also a commitment and enthusiasm for
embracing change. We also discovered that we could locally source
materials and labour. When asked what they would spend extra cash on,
most people agreed on vegetables.

Most importantly, we wanted to assure the community that the
greenhouse would be theirs and not ours; theirs in every sense, to
benefit from and to aid in building. Allowing a sense of ownership,
capacitation, mutual accountability and trust to naturally develop
supplanted any temptation to get visible results first.

Our
first meeting was a success that exceeded any of our expectations. A
table covered in low carbohydrate vegetarian dishes we’d prepared at
home to vibrantly demonstrate the potential of the vegetables we could
grow in the greenhouses and days of preparation left us anxious as we
waited in the community hall beneath the Children’s Centre of Aldeas
Infantiles SOS. After allowing for Bolivian timekeeping, we started our
presentation an hour and a half late, the room still slowly filling.
They listened, took notes, asked profound questions and debated and, for
fear of sounding cheesy; it was everything we could have dreamed.
Bolivian people enjoy expressing themselves, often talking for ten
minutes to passionately describe both their doubts and appreciation. The
physical support we offered was the financing of materials (on behalf
of ICS), taking part in the construction and offering manuals and
workshops to maintain the project, but our contributions were
spectacularly matched as people signed up to volunteer in their spare
time and a donation of wood and 200 adobe bricks were given! We must
thank the Junta Vecinal, who could not have been more welcoming and
encouraging.

We cannot imagine the success of our project without also thanking
the people of FOCAPACI and their manager Señor Wilfredo Blanco. With a
successful greenhouse project, also in El Alto, they shared their
experience with us and we hope to build a long-term relationship with
them.

We, and the community, decided that a main greenhouse would be built
near the children’s centre to serve as an educational environment for
the children and the community members. It would also serve as a pilot
for people to recreate in their own homes. Following suit, each of
Aldeas Infantiles’ thirty-five centres would build pilot greenhouses,
which would again teach surrounding locals to build them in their own
homes. Once the scale of the project became clear, we were ecstatic.
With honest intentions and commitment, we had orchestrated something
sincerely well thought out and sustainable.

When we told the community of Portada Triangular the project was
theirs to look after, we were not giving them a false sense of
confidence. Essentially they could have done it on their own. The
research and training we put ourselves through was simply to pass on the
knowledge to them. The theoretical support of an international
development organisation spurred them on, but we all learnt from the
opportunity to work alongside people of different cultures to develop
from our differences.

Despite fearing we would not have the respect of the local people, as
we really were starting from scratch; the way we carried out our
project created a productive relationship. Obviously my Spanish improved
but I also learnt that, whilst Bolivia may be the poorest country in
South America, the people are rich in a way that cannot be measured by
economic indicators. Our relationship with the local community will only
strengthen whilst we spend the next couple of weeks building something
that will last, together.